Kim Libby is the ESL Computer Teacher for East Providence.

Please tell us a little about yourself.

There are four children in my family and only 4.5 years between the oldest and youngest; not only are we all close in age, each was born in a separate state! I was the first, born in Chicago, then my sister Kristin was born in Virginia, my brother Kevin in Marcum, Canada (Quebec), and my youngest brother Kenny in Connecticut, where we finally settled and all grew up. I don't know how my mom did it, but she tells me now that it was easier then than compared to our teenage years! Yup, we're all K's, which was unplanned until my parents got to Kenny, and figured they should stick with the trend (their names by the way are Linda and Brian, no K's there). I am very close with my family, and travel back to CT frequently to visit with them. I love to read (I'm even in a book club with some fellow Providence school department ESL teachers!), write letters by hand, play soccer, visit the beach, attend wine tastings, and cook.

How and why did you begin teaching at RIFLI?  What do you like about your job and what don't you like?

I just graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Graphic Design. While I love the discipline of GD, I am a community-based artist, using my skills to work with adults and teenagers. My first job in RI was working with teens at AS220's youth outreach program Broad Street Studio. There I was a co-coordinator of the Product Design Team, a group set up to turn youth artwork into marketable merchandise to generate revenue for the studio. Our brand was called BSS220, and we focused on making silk screened t-shirts and hoodies.

When funding for my position ran out I had to start looking for another job. As luck would have it, Evelyn had just posted a position for a computer teacher on Craig's List, and I responded. The position was at Knight Memorial on the south side, and I was thrilled to continue working within that community. As a visual communicator, I have been very interested in using techniques from the art world to enrich education, so that students are deeply engaged, learning faster and better. I was attracted to RIFLI's flexibility allowing me to teach the way I felt was best for my students, rather than forcing me to subscribe to a pre-defined curriculum. At the same time I applied and was selected for a grant at RISD to work in the Catalyst Arts program with high school students at Pawtucket's Blackstone Academy Charter School. Both RIFLI and Catalyst have given me a stronger sense of my artistic and teaching practice, causing me to feel more deeply connected to these communities than ever before. This past fall I took a little hiatus from RIFLI to finish up at school and work on my degree project. Ten minutes after my last critique Karisa sent me an email about an open position and asking if I was looking for a job - sure was!

My favorite part of my job is building relationships with students through mutual trust. In East Providence, where I now work for RIFLI, the students were weary of me because of past computer experiences. I strongly believe in the power of good communication, and have taken the time to listen to what my students want to get out of this class and what they want to be able to use a computer for. Now that we've been working together for almost a month, they look forward to their computer time, and have even begun dictating where they want their education to go. I feel most successful in my job when students are empowered.

I don't like how little time I have with them!  I wish I could spend more time teaching, especially since I feel most effective when I'm working one-on-one with a student. It's challenging to have more students than computers, or to have computers that are not hooked up to the Internet, but it makes me more creative with my planning. Because time and resources are such a challenge, I am trying to convince my students to practice using a computer outside of our class time. Kevin (lead teacher at EP) has developed a sheet for "I practiced English by..." where students record all the times they use English outside of class. I have made a similar version for computers, though most of my students haven't been using it yet. Another strategy I want to use is showing my students how to sign up for a computer in the main library - my goal is for them to feel comfortable enough to come in on their own time to sign up for a computer.

How have your past experiences helped you in this program?

My past experiences have helped me considerably with this job, especially at Broad Street Studio, where unpredictable attendance was also an issue. This prepared me for how to be flexible in my lesson planning, but it also gave me perspective on my responsibilities as a teacher - if a student is unwilling/able to show up to class, I cant compromise the learning of the others by constantly backtracking. This knowledge has helped me to communicate more openly with my students, and in turn has caused them to take more responsibility for their attendance. Every day I am learning more and more about good teaching, building towards an even better practice for the future.